We Sing We Stay Together: Shabbat Morning Service is a super user-friendly Sing-Along prayer book for the Shabbat (Saturday) Morning Synagogue Service with TRANSLITERATED ENGLISH TEXT, translation and explanation of the service. Its primary purpose is to make it beyond easy to learn the prayers when listening and singing along to the 64 track music CD album set of the same name; but it also stands, in its own right, as a learning tool explaining the meaning of the words and the service. Our Jewish prayers are beautiful love songs; full of goodness, affection, adoration, hope, kindness and generosity. They are our DNA, even if we do not know them, because these prayers, our religion, have moulded the Jewish people; our way of thinking, education, who we are, and what we represent. Judaism is all about being good and positive for oneself, family, community, the wider world - all out of respect and love for Hashem. It fills me with gratitude, humility, and pride. Our heritage is an intellectual, cultural, spiritual and religious blessing - but we need easy access. I was never able to participate in, let alone enjoy, the Shabbat Morning Service, but I loved those moments when the whole community comes together and sings a few short prayers with moving melodies. There just was not enough of it, we needed more singing, much more! Community is all about family and friends, and we are all friends, it is actually written in one of our prayers. Our prayers are crying out to be sung with great happiness, clearly and harmoniously. Communal prayers are all about belonging, sharing, and that is only possible if we can all join in as equals; and for that we need clearly articulated words that are easy to learn and enjoyable to sing. I dedicate this project of melodizing the Shabbat Morning Service prayers and writing a Sing-Along prayer book to all who love and care for Jewish Continuity, Judaism, Torah, and the Nation-State of the Jewish People, Israel; and so also to all our wonderful friends, the righteous among the nations. Remember to remember that when we sing together, we stay together. AM ISRAEL CHAI - the people of Israel live. With love, and hope for our children, Richard Collis

Author Biography

It made no sense to me that I, as a secular Jew, could not access my religion because I simply did not have the tools. I was "Judaically Disabled", how embarrassing. I did not even know what I was supposedly not interested in. My epiphany was whilst walking down a mountain in Kashmir thinking of studying all manner of cultures and religions. And then, eureka moment: No doubt these others are all interesting and special in their own right, but you, Richard, don't even know the first thing about your own religion! And the little bit that you do know (from general knowledge) is that Judaism and the Jewish people have made huge POSITIVE contributions to human civilisation - like the moral code on which Western Civilisation is based aka THE HEBREW BIBLE aka THE TORAH aka THE OLD TESTAMENT. The 64 track music CD album set "We Sing We Stay Together" of the Shabbat Morning Service Prayers, and a companion Sing-Along Prayer Book of the same name (to make it beyond easy to learn) is my gift to all of you. This is what I would have wanted all those years ago (and I am you), when I was being Barmitzvah - there was no ladder for me to climb on board and participate. This is going to help everyone, access for all, no prior knowledge required. Please ENJOY it, be happy and SING, these prayers belong to you. All my love, Richard Collis.